Wakusuru Sunshine (ST 2021) – Cologne Game Lab

In Wakusuru Sunshine, players get a birds-eye-view over a miniature cube-shaped planet populated by blob creatures. Interactions are handled by a unique controller of the same form acting as a direct representation of the environments the player will interface with. On a basic level, rotating the real-world cube will also rotate the in-game planet, but each side additionally houses a different control input the player can use to cause changes in the environment. One of the cube faces, for example, features a slider on a rail that corresponds to a wiper on the in-game planet; sliding it back and forth will move the wiper accordingly and knock the creatures around in a way that is meant to be kinesthetically pleasing.

In the context of the game’s world, each cube face acts as a different “summer theme park”
attraction. The set pieces and overall color palette were specifically chosen to invoke that
feeling of a bubbly, summery, fun time, with ice cream machines and swimming pools to
cool down at. That simple appeal is the core of the game, presenting no concrete goals or challenges
instead, each interface method is meant to instill a sense of surprise and joy in the player as
they try to elicit new responses from the blobs. Under that light, we see it as a game that
can appeal to all ages.

The cube controller contains an Arduino board connected to our various interfaces and
sends inputs to Unity via Bluetooth. We’ve additionally created a physical manual for the
game that explains each of the set pieces while also containing some backstory for the
game’s world. While it can technically be played with a mouse and keyboard using our
debug tools, we hope to be able to show it off in person at some point as some type of art
installation.